Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, finally emerged victorious in the forgery case against him in the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Saturday.
The court dismissed the certificate forgery allegation case which was instituted against Obaseki by the All Progressives Congress and one of its members, Mr Williams Edobor.
While delivering judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, held that the plaintiffs failed to, by way of credible evidence, discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law.
Justice Mohammed said there was no iota of evidence before the court to establish that Obaseki forged either his Ordinary Level certificate or the degree certificate that was awarded to him in 1979 by the University of Ibadan.
He, however, said the allegation of forgery the plaintiffs levelled against Obaseki bordered on crime and therefore required to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge ruled, “None of the witnesses called by the Plaintiffs was able to prove that the certificate was forged.
“In fact, the witnesses admitted that none of them visited the University of Ibadan to confirm the authenticity of the certificate.
“The plaintiffs only relied on photocopies that were attached to the Form EC9 the 1st defendant submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”